


The Killing Blow

by sparkly_butthole



Series: Stucky tumblr prompts [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, M/M, saddest of the sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 15:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11947377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkly_butthole/pseuds/sparkly_butthole
Summary: The thing about Steve Rogers, though, is that he’s a genuine madman. A little warning like that isn’t gonna make him stand down. Neither is a room of chitauri soldiers, decked out in full battle armor and ready for Thanos’ signal. In fact, the only thing that’ll make him stand down is death itself.Well, that… and one other thing. Steve’s only weakness.My take on Bucky Barnes, hero of the Infinity War.





	The Killing Blow

**Author's Note:**

> You should know this is a sad fic. I've warned about it enough and take no responsibility from here on out.
> 
> This was written for the August challenge #29: Graphic depictions of violence. Thanks to [Arke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arke/pseuds/Arke) for the beta!

Steve Rogers is close to shitting his pants. He of the back alley beat down, reckless Avenger, doesn’t-give-up-til-the-very-end Steven Rogers is fucking _terrified_. And Bucky, having known Steve for nearly a century (and most of that as his lover) is the only one who can see it. He pulls Steve aside like he used to do back in the ‘40s, when they planned their next moves in hastily constructed tents and had to steal their kisses behind them.

“Hey, you okay?” he murmurs.

“I’m not the one you need to be worried about, Buck.”

“I’ll stop worrying about you the minute you stop worrying about me.”

“... Point taken.”

“Listen, this is the best team there is. If anyone can do it, it’s you guys.”

Steve gives him a soft look, half sorrow, half pity. “And you, Bucky.”

“And me,” he agrees lightly, for Steve’s sake. The kiss he places upon Steve’s forehead speaks of many things- of promises made and kept and of promises for whatever comes after this. He sees Steve take strength from it, hears the chorus of _awws_ behind them, and knows everything will be just fine.

 

***

 

Steve- no, Captain America- meets the Winter Soldier’s eyes. In the silence between them: a _hello_ , an _I love you_ , a _you can do this_ . He prays not a _goodbye_. Bucky sees it in his eyes, the fear. He knows he does.

“Avengers,” the Captain begins, forcing his attention away- but God, he doesn’t want to. He wants to stay lost in Bucky’s eyes forever.

Steve starts over. “Avengers. This is the day we finish this. The chitauri have been driven back, Thor’s men are holding the line, and Thanos is vulnerable in his little makeshift fortress. We have to strike and strike now, ready or not.”

He takes a breath. “Here’s how we’re doing teams. Alpha-”

“Real creative, Cap!”

Steve rolls right over Tony. “You’re with me. Sam, Hulk, Thor, Tony, Rhodey, and Peter. We bang down the door to his little hideaway. We harry him, his men- make ‘em think we’re the real threat. Far as they know, Bucky’s still in cryo and Strange is stuck in the dark dimension. Vision’s body is gone, but he’ll be able to knock out their computer systems before we move, and Thanos is completely unaware. That means we have the element of surprise. They still know about the rest of you, so for heaven’s sake, be careful. All of you.”

Steve takes another breath, feeling his partner’s eyes on him. _You’re Bucky’s strength, too,_ he reminds himself. _The whole team is counting on you. You gotta do this, Steve._

_Then you can rest for awhile._

“Star Lord”- a snicker from the back; Tony, of course- “Star Lord is providing more air support. On our mark, he’ll let loose own troops. Beta team, coordinate with him, especially you, Clint. I want Wanda, Bucky, Ant-Man, Nat, and Clint under T’Challa. Omega team is Strange and Vision. The two of you know what to do.” Mostly because Steve doesn’t know what they _can_ do.

Another breath. God, but he has a bad feeling about this.

“We’re probably not gonna make it through to him; we’re a distraction. Beta team, this is all about stealth. He knows we’re coming. Maybe not when or how, but he’ll be as ready as he can be. And there’s only so many of us. We’re counting on you. Flank ‘em, sneak up behind Thanos. Gut him. Take back that damn gauntlet before he can get his grubby hands on the last gem.” He meets Bucky’s eyes again and gets a small nod in return. _Order acknowledged; you can count on me, Captain_.

Steve sends a message back: _I know I can. I always could_.

 

 

Steve is bleeding from at least a dozen wounds, has made countless risky decisions which he’s glad Bucky didn’t see, and has killed more men and creatures today than he had in his entire previous existence. He’s covered in blood, both his own maroon and his enemies’ black, but he’s finally made it.

Thanos’ throne stands before him, the creature himself wearing a mostly full gauntlet of gems, and suddenly the realization slams home: this is the end of the line. He will die here today.

An overwhelming feeling of peace steals over him. His only regret is that Bucky…

… Bucky is climbing atop the dais where Thanos sits.

 _Well, Steve. Time to pull out the ole’ bullshit projector_ , he thinks as the rest of his mind flashes _MUST PROTECT BUCKY_ on endless loop.

“It’s over, Thanos. Drop the gauntlet.”

Thanos sends what appears to be a magic missile, some kind of warning, in his direction. It hits him and sends a shock through his body, but only ends up rattling him. It’s just a warm-up, and the assembled Avengers know it.

The thing about Steve Rogers, though, is that he’s a genuine madman. A little warning like that isn’t gonna make him stand down. Neither is a room of chitauri soldiers, decked out in full battle armor and ready for Thanos’ signal. In fact, the only thing that’ll make him stand down is death itself.

Well, that… and one other thing. Steve’s only weakness.

Bucky.

Thanos reaches behind himself and grabs Bucky, who is by now within striking range. Another second, maybe two… but no, it’s too late. He shakes Bucky like a ragdoll and suddenly the entire room is still, all the creeping Avengers and those about to unleash a thousand hells upon the alien god crawl to a dead stop.

Steve’s heart is pounding out of his chest.

It all happened so fast.

“No. Please. Leave him alone. Anything,” he swallows, mouth dry. “Anything but him.”

He sees from the corner of his eye how the other Avengers glance at each other, communicating silently in the hopes of coming up with a plan on the spot. Steve himself has nothing, nothing but alarm bells blaring in his head, making him utterly incapable of doing anything but panicking.

Bucky’s fighting back the best he can, even though everyone watching knows it’s a useless battle. He claws at Thanos’ arm with his own metal one, but it doesn’t do any damage at all. Slowly, Thanos is squeezing the life out of Steve’s lover; Bucky screams as one rib cracks. How the hell they will ever kill the creature, he has no idea, but Bucky’s about to die.

Bucky’s about to _die_.

Steve rushes forward, tossing the shield at Thanos’ arm, which stuns him and makes him drop Bucky. The rest of the team moves into action as Bucky collapses to the floor, but it’s once again too late as Thanos pulls his arm back-

And sends Steve flying across the room with enough force to break most of the bones in his body.

 

***

Bucky rushes over to him, ignoring Thanos completely. He holds his love close as the tears spill from his eyes. The other Avengers now, _finally_ , take over the fight, and even though it’s only been a few seconds since this downward spiral began, Bucky is angry at them. All of them. Steve’s going to die here because none of them were capable of stepping up in the big moment.

Steve smiles beatifically at him, a smile full of peace and wonder, and inside he feels a crack with a chasm opening underneath it.

“End of the line, pal,” Steve manages to cough out. “I knew you’d be here… with me.”

Bucky tries to sit him up as he coughs, blood spattering his mouth and face, spraying all over his own uniform as well as Bucky’s. Steve won’t let him, though; he’d rather be comfortable in his last moments, and Bucky breaks a little more at the realization.

The Avengers are viciously fighting the battle around them, but Bucky and Steve only have eyes for each other. Even the lines of pain at the corners of Steve’s eyes aren’t enough to pull his gaze away from his lover.

“End of… the line,” he whispers. “Love… you.” Bucky nods while a tear drops onto Steve’s face, and Steve dies with a smile.

Behind them, Thanos approaches and rears back for the killing blow.

 

The last vestiges of his sanity leave him, and James Buchanan Barnes is no more. The Winter Soldier steps forth, and everything fades to black.

 

He grabs the nearest chitauri by its scaly neck and throws it across the little makeshift throne room, then crouches and pivots to avoid Thanos’ blow. Clint’s explosive arrow hits home and the Soldier ducks to avoid the blow; this merely angers Thanos, who makes another lunge for his nearest target, which is still Bucky. Or rather, the man who was twice Bucky and is now only the Soldier, the Asset, the machine of death.

The Soldier ducks again. Thanos is fast, but the assassin can avoid his grip long enough to finish this murderous rampage. It’s no longer imperative that he survives this fight, just as long as every fucker in this entire room dies. Preferably by his hand.

Because now and only now is Bucky a real Avenger.

Rolling away from the titan, Bucky nearly loses his balance. He lashes out to the side, grabbing a chitauri trooper to steady himself, and snaps its neck with one neat pirouette. He growls as he stands up straight, eyeing Thanos with a murderous glare.

Thanos has other targets in mind now, however, having been hit with the Avengers’ various weapons throughout the battle. Bucky decides it’s time to clean house so that he can get down to the business of giving Thanos his just desserts.

From his right, three troopers approach- no match for him. Even now, they eye him warily, as though they can see the blood rage bubbling just under the Soldier’s skin. The rightmost one, farthest from his forward sight, reaches out to stun him with its staff, and the other two raise their weapons to fire. The Soldier sweeps his left foot around; one of the shots grazes the top of his head. The center trooper hesitates just a second too long. The Soldier knocks him over and smashes his windpipe, easy as you please.

The one who’d tried to jump him misses, and as it flails about, the Soldier takes out a knife to stab between the eyes of the chitauri who’d fired upon him. Black blood streams onto the already soiled floor, and he trips. The Soldier merely corrects the trajectory of his right foot as he falls downwards to catch the last one full in the face. Bone crunches underneath as the chitauri’s skull is crushed. He himself can feel a slight fracture in the bone of his foot, but that doesn’t matter. This fight will be his last anyway.

Time slows to a crawl as the mission takes over. Peripherally, he acknowledges the sight of the Hammer flying, followed by grunting and shouting and then, finally, Thor’s massive, broken frame hitting the wall. He acknowledges Natasha’s scramble to get out of the way of Thanos’ massive arm. He acknowledges how the flood of troops filling half the room scream and claw at their own helmets as Star Lord and his friends take out one of the Leviathans. All of it registers.

None of it matters.

The Soldier continues on his killing rampage; Thor and Steve are down, but the rest of them are still up and fighting for their lives, taking aim and dodging Thanos as needed. He himself wreaks havoc on the troopers, avoiding his main target in favor of murdering as many of the smaller aliens as possible. Several guns fire in his direction, but the blood haze that hangs over his eyes give him preternatural reflexes, and he either dodges the bullets or raises his metal arm to deflect them. A few graze him and one even hits him in the right arm, but he barely feels it. The troopers are going down left and right all around him, bleeding ugly ink onto the floor of the old base Thanos has so briefly called home.

Finally, there are only two remaining troopers. Clint moves as though to fire an arrow at them, but the Soldier waves him off. He leans down to the chitauri at his feet, lifeless bodies floating in pools of their own blood, and chooses a staff instead of a gun. The two aliens left standing giggle at him, thinking his choice of weapons foolish. The Soldier doesn’t let them think on it for long; he rushes them before they even know what’s happening, swinging wildly. The staff, propelled by the power of the Soldier’s metal arm, hits one so hard in the ribs that its armor crushes inward with a sickening crunch. The Soldier flips the staff around his back like he would a knife and impales the other through its useless brain.

Now there’s nothing left but Thanos.

 

The plan had gone to shit from the beginning. Scott was supposed to have magnified the gauntlet to a larger size so it would pop off, then Strange could wrap Thanos in some sort of stasis until he could be properly dealt with. But the giant had swatted Ant-Man away like a fly, and Scott was out of the fight permanently. Bucky’s metal arm became plan B.

Which obviously failed spectacularly… but maybe he can still make it right.

He hears Natasha’s warning, sees Iron Man prepare to fly across the room in response to his own recklessness, notices Sam’s helpless face, but there’s no way to warn them, no time. Nothing he can do to tell them that it doesn’t matter, don’t worry about him. That his life is over anyway.

The man who used to be Bucky runs from behind Thanos and underneath his arm, sliding through the slick blood on the floor. He reaches out and grabs the gauntlet with his rebuilt metal hand, using forward momentum to help loosen the gauntlet as much as possible. As Thanos turns to him, preparing to strike once more with the other fist, the Soldier registers Strange’s appearance and Tony’s flight toward the battle currently unfolding mid-chamber, aiming for the gauntlet and for salvation. Aiming for the final sacrifice, the one the Soldier is now making.

In a split second of time that feels like a thousand years, Thanos reaches, grabs, and crushes the Soldier’s chest in one smooth movement. But it’s not before he sees the tug, sees Tony’s thrusters engage, sees the loosened gauntlet go flying and the euphoric white glow surround Strange as he speaks in a tongue not meant for him to hear. It’s not before he knows they’ve won. It’s over.

He’s reached the end of the line, and finally he and Steve will be at peace.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was really hard to write for a couple of reasons. I challenged myself to write violent action because I write mostly introspective characters, and I was crawling out of my shell to squint in the daylight for a minute here. I also don't read a lot of MCD and these guys are my cinnamon rolls, so it was hard for that reason as well. I hope I did them justice.


End file.
